Download Bloomberg CBRE joins The Climate Group

CB RICHARD ELLIS REAL ESTATE SERVICES
JOINS CLIMATE GROUP
Partnership Working To Make Global Carbon Reduction a Reality
LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK, September 24, 2008. CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. (CBRE)
today became the first commercial real estate services company to join The Climate
Group, the global, independent organization dedicated to accelerating action on climate
change.
"The Climate Group is delighted to welcome CBRE to our coalition of companies leading
on climate change issues," said Chris Walker, North American Director of The Climate
Group. "As the world's largest commercial real estate services firm, CBRE is uniquely
positioned to help slow climate change by working with its clients to increase energy
efficiency in the commercial properties it manages."
A recently released report by The Climate Group and the Global e- Sustainability
Initiative (GeSI) called SMART 2020: enabling the low carbon economy in the
information age, found that buildings are the second highest consumer of power in the
world behind industry. Better design, management and automation of buildings could
avoid 15 percent of total building emissions. Globally, better building management could
save 1.68 gigatons of CO2 equivalent, worth US$340.8 billion. Commercial and industrial
facilities account for half of all energy consumption in the US and likewise nearly half of
US greenhouse gas emissions.
Sally Wilson, CBRE's Global Director of Environmental Strategy, said, "Working with our
clients to reduce energy consumption and curb GHG emissions is a cornerstone of our
environmental commitment. Joining The Climate Group is a tremendous opportunity for
collaboration with some of the world's brightest environmental minds in developing
practical solutions to carbon reduction."
In May 2007, CBRE announced a commitment to become carbon neutral in its own
operations by 2010 - making it the first commercial real estate services company to
announce such a goal. In addition, CBRE is assisting its clients with energy efficiency
programs at much of the 1.9 billion square feet of building space it manages around the
world.
To help it achieve this goal, CBRE has established an international task force to
aggregate and share best practices on a global basis, develop educational programs for
clients and employees and develop internal policies and business practices.
In the United States, CBRE has instituted a wide range of programs for the commercial
buildings it manages. These include the mandated adoption of EPA's Energy Star
program, and the adoption and use of the Building Owners and Managers Association's
(BOMA) Building Energy Efficiency Program (BEEP), an extensive education program that
teaches commercial real estate professionals how to reduce energy consumption. This
year the EPA named CB Richard Ellis an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for
outstanding energy management and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Additionally, more than 150 buildings managed by CBRE's Asset Services Group are
undergoing current evaluation for inclusion in a pilot portfolio LEED EB program in
conjunction with the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). A recent survey by
CBRE found that more than two thirds of the buildings it queried are taking proactive
steps toward enhancing energy efficiency, reducing water usage and introducing paper
recycling programs. More than 100 of the company's professionals have received LEED
AP accreditation.
In the EMEA (Europe Middle East Africa) region, CBRE has a team of engineers,
sustainability consultants and energy managers dedicated to working with corporate
occupiers, investors and developers to improve their energy performance and meet
government policy and environmental legislation. Recent projects by CBRE in EMEA
include:
Singleton Birch, the UK's largest independent manufacturer of lime products: working as
the retained consultant during the development of a new energy from municipal solid
waste plant which is intended to produce energy for their lime works and the national
grid. Omniyat Properties in Dubai: supporting project teams and architects to design and
develop commercially viable schemes which achieve an internationally recognized
environmental sustainability design certificate such as BREEAM or LEED.
Charlotte Eddington, Group Head of Energy and Sustainability at CBRE EMEA, said,
"Using green technology in new and retrofitted buildings should help properties to hold
their value and ensure that they are more aligned with market expectations."
In the Asia-Pacific region, CBRE has also worked on wide range of energy reduction and
sustainability initiatives. These efforts include forming a Environmental Sustainability
Network (APESN) to promote best practices; building out CBRE's new office location in
Beijing using renewable materials and maximizing natural daylight and submitting it for
LEED certification, and achieving NABERS (Energy Star) ratings for 20 client properties
in Australia.